Only One

Chapter Thirteen

I approached the front door slowly. I don't like doorbells, so I knocked four times. The door opened and standing behind it was Ashleigh. "Jenny!" She cried and she jumped up. I was shocked, but I caught her and let her hug me. I set her down gently and smiled.

"Hi Ashleigh," I greeted.

"Oh Jenny we are going to have so muh fun. I have a whole bunch of things planned out for us to do. Your're gonna love it!" She exclaims grabbing my arm. She starts to tug on I and I laugh. She brought me into the kitchen where I saw the rest of the Brookes sitting at the island. Mrs. Brookes looked dazzling in a simple red dress with a slit going up to her mid thigh. My eyes darted around the room. Mr. Brookes, Ryan and Parker were all wearing dress pants, colored shirts, and suit coats. My eyes lingered on Parker a second more than the others, but I quickly tore my eyes away trying not to make anything obvious.

"Mom, mom, mom Jenny's here!" she sang.

"Yes. I see that. Why don't you go clean up your room and let us talk," Mrs. Brookes tells her daughter.

"Oh alright," she sighs, but drops my arm and runs out of the room.

"I'm sorry Jenny, she's a bit clingy," Mrs. Brookes says.

"It's alright. I like her," I smile.

"You can have her," Ryan says looking down.

"Ryan Allen Brookes! Don't talk about your sister like that! She is the sweetest little girl," she yells. I put my hand up to my mouth to stiffle back my laughs. Parker did the same. I couldn't help it. I laughed first, but quickly stopped and put a serious look on my face. Ryan glared at me.

"I'm sorry that was highly innapropriate of me," I say trying to be serious.

"Not cool Caligney," he warns.

"You shouldn't have said it then," Parker defends. Wait Parker? Defending me? That didn't seem right.

"Alright children," Mr. Brookes said, "we need to go. Jenny we should be home no later then 1:30."

"That's fine," I say.

"Alright then. Let's go we don't want to be late!" Mr. Brookes stands up and so does everyone else. Three of the four say goodbyeto me. I think we all know who didn't. He walked straight to the door and then turned around and faced all of us.

Ryan stopped by me and whispered in my ear. "Too bad Parker's going. You two could have stayed home and hung out." I felt the heat rush to my cheeks. I looked ahead of me shocked.

"You better not say anything to him," I whisper in his ear. He pulled away and smirked. So know he knew. That makes me wonder who else does. He walked away and I watched as he joined his brother and parents. Parker leaned over and told Ryan something, but I couldn't make out what it was. Ryan smiled at me and I rolled my eyes. I felt something furry crash into my legs. I gasped at the impact and turned around.

"Hi Pongo!" I bent down and cupped his face in my hands. He laid down and rolled onto his back wanting his belly rubbed. I heard the door close behind me. I was alone now babysitting Ashleigh. I patted Pongo's belly and then got up from the ground.

"Ashleigh!" I called walking towards the stairs, "your parents are gone. It's okay to come down now!" I looked up and saw her come down the stairs smiling.

"Jenny what do you want to do first?" She asked stopping in front of me.

"Whatever you want to do first is what I will do," I tell her smiling.

"Then come upstairs and color with me," she grabs my hand and pulls me up the stairs. Her room was at the end of the hall. I passed a study, a bathroom, both of the brother's room and another bathoom. Finally we arrived at her room. It was very pink. Pink walls, white furniture, pink comforter, pink carpet, and pink decoral. It was too pink, but I guess pink rooms make nine year old girls happy. I sat down on a chair at a small arts and crafts table in the middle of her room. I was too big, but I just didn't sit all the way under. She came back over carrying papers. She dropped them off and went somewhere and came back with a big box of markers, crayons, pencils, sharpies, scissors, and colored pencils.

"What do you want to draw?" She asked me.

"I don't know Ashleigh. What should I draw?" I asked.

"Draw a forest with lots of trees and animals," she tells me.

"Is that what you would like?" I ask. She nodded her head and handed me a green colored pencil. I smiled and took the pencil from her. I dug through the box of pencils and found all the colors I would need. I started drawing, getting lost in the blur of lines I was creating.